A. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automatic dishwashers and, more particularly, to a new and improved removable utensil basket for attachment to a dish rack of an automatic dishwasher.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Baskets or containers for retaining various products or devices are old and well known in the prior art as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 618,425; 2,095,810; 2,149,821; 2,813,767; 2,907,470; 3,050,073; 3,167,183; 3,665,943; 3,680,712; 3,742,965; 3,854,762; 3,995,744; and 4,456,125. The '425 patent concerns a water-pervious combined sponge and soap holder. The '810 patent discloses a hinged shelf rack secured to the door of a refrigerator. The '821 patent discloses an egg holder removably suspended beneath a shelf of a refrigerator to increase storage capacity by utilizing available space in a refrigerator. The '767 patent discloses racks secured to the door of a refrigerator for holding food packages in stacks on the door of the refrigerator. The '470 patent discloses a water-pervious dish rack with movable subracks for use in a dishwasher. The '073 patent discloses a water-pervious removable basket having a pair of manually engageable handles for use in a dishwasher and having a separate silverware receptacle provided within the basket. The '183 patent discloses water-pervious movable dish racks or baskets for use in a dishwasher.
The '943 patent discloses a water-pervious silverware basket that is releasably fastened in position on the door of a dishwasher to permit silverware to be cleaned in the dishwasher. The basket is removable from the dishwasher at the conclusion of the washing operation. The '712 patent discloses a modular display rack or stand constructed of interconnected wire rods and including a plurality of disconnectable and removable rack sections for permitting the size and capacity of the rack assembly to be selectively varied. The '965 patent discloses a dish rinser for use in a sink having a smaller cutlery or silverware unit removably disposed in the dish rinser. The '762 patent, in addition to providing a general description of a conventional automatic dishwasher, discloses a plurality of silverware baskets 20 and 21 mounted on the door of the dishwasher. The '744 patent discloses a collapsible merchandise display system that has upper parallel spaced rails for receiving mounting hook portions of wire-formed, removable display baskets. Finally, the '125 patent discloses a basket arrangement in which a plurality of wire baskets may be vertically suspended, one from another, to provide a vertically stacked, hanging basket assembly.
Although many baskets or container arrangements are disclosed in the prior art, none to applicant's knowledge addresses the problem that exists in the dishwasher field wherein, for cost purposes, different models of automatic dishwashers may utilize essentially the same inner door construction. For example, one model of a dishwasher as depicted in the '762 patent utilizes silverware baskets disposed in a cavity formed in the inner door of the dishwasher for receiving silverware and other utensils to be cleaned by the dishwasher. A different dishwasher model may omit the silverware baskets mounted in the inner cavity of the door while using essentially the same outer and inner door construction. In such a case, the full capacity of the dishwasher is not utilized, resulting in less efficient dishwashing operations. Therefore, a need exists in the dishwasher industry to maximize the washing capacity and, thus, the efficiency of a dishwasher while maintaining cost and manufacturing efficiencies resulting from the use of common or similar parts in different dishwasher models.